The new trailer for the upcoming film, The King’s Man, was released online over the weekend. The movie, directed by Mathew Vaughn, sports a very solid cast that includes Ralph Fiennes, Daniel Bruhl, Charles Dance, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Djimon Hounsou, just to name a few. Taking place right around World War I, the movie is a prequel to Vaughn’s successful Kingsman series and chronicles the founding The Kingsman, a private, non-government intelligence agency dedicated to protecting the world. I love the idea of a newly formed Kingsman organization going up against a colorful group of history’s villains like Rasputin and Mata Hari. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Ralph Fiennes looks to be fulfilling the role is this movie, that Colin Firth did so well in the first two. It’s a brilliant direction to take the franchise in, after the somewhat lackluster second installment in the series. The best sequels take the world that was established in the first film and do something completely different and unique with it. That’s what they look to be achieving here and the whole thing looks like a blast.
The King’s Man was originally scheduled for release a few months ago, but Disney’s purchase of Fox and the subsequent pandemic delayed the film’s premiere to September 18th. I’m a big Mathew Vaughn fan, with the possible exception of the second Kingsman movie, he hasn’t made a film that I don’t love (and even Kingsman: The Golden Shower is still pretty good). Layer Cake, Stardust, Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class, and Kingsman: The Secret Service are all excellent films. Hopefully this movie returns Mathew Vaughn to the standard of excellence many fans have come to expect from the talented filmmaker. Watch the new trailer right here:
The King’s Man arrives in theaters on 9/18/20
Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @PJWrightWBM or type Worlds Best Media into the search bar, you can also like and follow us on our Facebook page; World’s Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews, go a long way to supporting World’s Best Media. We really appreciate the loyalty and support shown to us by our fans, so thanks again! Stay healthy and stay safe!
There’ve been few things in recent popular culture that have been more divisive than Zack Snyder‘s foray into the DCEU. Personally, I’m a big Zack Snyder defender. I think, with the exception of Sucker Punch, he’s never truly made a bad movie.
Man of Steel is easily my favorite live-action Superman movie. Henry Cavill is much better in the role than people give him credit for and the movie is underrated in general. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is a very flawed film, but I love it. Particularly the R-Rated Ultimate Edition. It’s sad that the films reception and his personal issues forced Ben Affleck to walk away from the character because he was arguably our best live action Batman to date. The only thing in that movie that was truly terrible was the decision to cast Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and his god awful subsequent performance. I understand that, as fans we all have our own beliefs about how beloved character should be portrayed on screen, but I was pleasantly surprised by Batman V Superman, especially because the film was getting such mixed reviews at the time.
I don’t count Justice League because at the end of the day that wasn’t really Snyder’s film. Almost everything with Superman in that movie was shot after he left the film, for personal reasons. Henry Cavill was well into filming Mission: Impossible Fallout, where he sported a thick mustache. You can tell that all of Superman’s scenes were shot after Zack Snyder left the film, because Paramount, the film studio that was making Mission Impossible, wouldn’t let Warner Bros. shave Cavill’s mustache for JL reshoots. So, instead of choosing the much simpler, cheaper, and smarter option of shaving his mustache and having Cavill wear a fake for the remainder of shooting Mission Impossible, Warner Bros. had to remove the mustache digitally. The god awful result is that the whole bottom half of Superman’s face in JL looks like a creepy mannequin come to life. Of course none of that is Zack Snyder‘s fault because he already left the movie at that point, but it’s a funny story if you haven’t already heard it.
Now, Zack Snyder is finally getting a chance to give us his vision of his Justice League film, or at least something pretty close to it. Justice League: The Snyder Cut is premiering on HBOMax next year, sometime in 2021. It might not be much, but HBO released a brief teaser for the project that you can watch below. Of course, you can’t judge a movie after only seeing less than 60 seconds of footage, but I already dig the darker tone. We’re only shown two quick scenes, one involving Diana played by Gal Gadot that was not in the theatrical cut at all and a quick look at a alternate version of the ancient battle sequence that opens the film where Steppenwolf has been replaced by… Well, I won’t spoil it, but it’s someone much scarier and much more interesting. The thing that both of these scenes have in common is that they’re extremely ominous and they both serve to focus on the appearance of a certain iconic DC villain, not featured in the theatrical cut. Take a look below, I’d love to hear what you guys think:
Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @PJWrightWBM or type Worlds Best Media into the search bar, you can also like and follow us on our Facebook page; World’s Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews, go a long way to supporting World’s Best Media. We really appreciate the loyalty and support shown to us by our fans, so thanks again! Stay healthy and stay safe!
The long awaited and much anticipated new miniseries from DC Comics, Dark Nights: Death Metal, is finally here and today I’m reviewing the first issue! About once a year, usually in the summer, both of “The Big Two” comic book publishers, DC and Marvel, will put out an epic miniseries “Event”. These are the no holds barred stories, where seemingly anything can happen! Typically, even though one character or one particular team will be the focus of the story, these Events affect and involve the entire DCU or Marvel Universe. These stories tend to have casts of thousands! With huge, status quo changing moments! Whenever the publishers at Marvel or DC are talking about their latest Event Miniseries, they like to say things like, “After this story nothing will ever be the same!”. When you’ve been reading comics as long as I have, there are certain things that you tend to expect to see when one of these big stories come out. There are usually some major character deaths, surprise resurrections, heroes turning into villains and vice versa, things like that. Classic DC and Marvel stories like Crisis On Infinite Earths, Infinity Gauntlet, and Civil War are some examples of Event Comics. Like many things, some of them suck and other become classics.
One of the best superhero Events of the last decade was Dark Nights: Metal written by Scott Snyder and art by Greg Capullo. That story saw the DCU being invaded by the evil, cosmic forces of the previously unknown Dark Mutiverse. The Dark Multiverse is a nightmare realm where the deep fears of everyone in The DCU are made manifest. These are the worlds where everything that could go wrong, does go wrong. The Dark Multiverse was ruled by an evil god-like entity called Barbatos. When he came to attack and claim the DCU, his generals were all dark, twisted versions of Batman.
The most terrifying and formidable of the evil Bruce Waynes from across The Dark Multiverse was, without a doubt, The Batman Who Laughs. In his home reality, after The Joker killed Jim Gordon and a shit load of other people, Bruce Wayne finally had enough of the atrocities committed by The Joker and killed him by snapping his neck. BUT The Clown Prince of Crime had one last surprise for his longtime nemesis, The Joker created a toxin that would be released from his body at the moment of his death and turn whoever killed him into the next Joker. The insidious toxin burned away Bruce’s humanity. Batman lost of all his morality, compassion, and empathy. Batman, under normal circumstances, is already as Superman once put it, “The most dangerous man alive.”. This version Batman, without the moral code that stops him from going too far, is a terrifying and unbeatable cosmic horror. Now he’s the apex predator of The Multiverse. Because a Batman Who Laughs is a Batman who always wins.
The Justice League managed to defeat Barbatos and his army of evil Batmen (The Batman Who Laughs managed to stick around The DCU), but it came with huge unforeseen consequences. In defeating one dark god, they unknowingly unleashed another: Perpetua, The Mother and Creator of The Multiverse. However, when Perpetua was freed, it took time for her to regain her full power. She needed help and a certain bald, alien hating, billionaire businessman/scientific genius was just the megalomaniac for the job…
Perpetua: Creator of The Multiverse
One of the major ongoing stories in DC Comics over the last few years has followed Lex Luthor (with the help of The Legion of Doom) as he attempted to pull off his most ambitious cosmic power grab to date. Luthor set out to unlock the hidden powers of the universe and restore Perpetua to her full strength. Luthor’s endgame was to help Perpetua regain control of The Multiverse and rule over all of creation alongside her as her right hand and most trusted disciple. Everything was going according to Luthor’s plan, that is until The Batman Who Laughs showed up. He managed to make the case to Perpetua that he, not Luthor, was the one worthy of becoming her most valuable acolyte. Luthor had done all the work and The Batman Who Laughs snatched everything right out from under him. Perpetua agreed, and Luthor was cast aside.
Dark Nights: Death Metal is not only a sequel to Dark Nights: Metal, it also builds upon many of the major stories Scott Snyder and others have been telling in the DCU since the end of the first Dark Nights: Metal. Elements from Snyder‘s Justice League run, Doomsday Clock, Snyder’s Batman Who Laughs miniseries, The Flash, and more are all at play. I think one of the things that the story does really well, is that despite all of the groundwork the story has been built upon, it doesn’t feel like you need to have read all of those other stories to understand this one. It’s a more accessible tale than you might think. The story starts very much in the middle of the action, so even if you have read every single DC Comic Book that’s connected to this story, you’re still going to be playing catch-up. Everything in the story is so insane that, part of the fun is figuring out how the hell our heroes have found themselves in this crazy situation.
Without going into major spoilers, Earth has been pulled into The Dark Multiverse. The planet has become a terrifying nightmare-scape, ruled over by the cruel and sadistic Batman Who Laughs. Countless twisted and evil versions of Batman from throughout The Dark Multiverse act as his lieutenants and help enforce his will. Our heroes have lost so badly that to keep what’s left of humanity alive, heroes like Swamp Thing, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and others are forced work for The Batman Who Laughs and do his bidding. He’s given his version of the Justice League different roles to play in his new kingdom. They know that they can’t beat him. He holds all the cards in such a way that, the only way our heroes can protect the people that are left is to play his sick game and grudgingly work for him. The Batman Who Laughs is essentially holding a gun to the head of what’s left of humanity, to keep the former Justice League in line. It’s sort of reminds me of something out of Game of Thrones where noble characters have to bow down before a despicable ruler in the name of serving a greater good. Of course Batman, the real Batman that is out there somewhere, fighting almost like a guerrilla insurgency, desperately trying to pull off whatever ever he can to save whatever’s left of this broken Multiverse.
Despite the fact that the whole story is wrapped in Batman iconography and there are evil Batmen everywhere, Wonder Woman is the central character in this story. Themyscira, Wonder Woman’s former home, has literally become Hell, a jail for people that The Batman Who Laughs wants to keep out of the way and imprisoned. With Swamp Thing (who’s seen better days to say the least) as her right hand man and confidant, Wonder Woman has become Hell’s Jailer, The Warden of her desecrated homeland. Despite her dark circumstances, Wonder Woman is pretty fucking cool in this story and I love the choice to make her one of the central characters. She’s really the main character, at least in this issue. but considering what goes down in the first issue alone, I think it’s fair to say she’ll probably be taking center stage for the whole story. If this issue is any indication, that’s a fantastic idea. As cool as Batman is, as smart as he is, and is tough as he is, no one will fight to their last breath like Wonder Woman. She is not content to play her fucked up role in The Batman Who Laugh’s wasteland. Bruce thinks the fight is already lost and all they can hope to do is save whatever good is left. Wonder woman is not having that shit, she knows there must be a way to make things right, to put the universe back together again. And when a very important prisoner is sent to her by The Batman Who Laughs, Diana thinks she may have found her last chance to save the world.
To say anymore would spoil the fun. I will say this, they are not fucking around with this story. Snyder and Capullo have pulled out all of the fucking stops. This is only the first issue and there were at least three or four jaw-dropping moments in this comic book. I was fucking blown away. It’s impressive that while so much of what is going on in the story is dark and bleak, the story never loses it’s thrilling sense of fun. The heroes of the DCU are in rough shape, but it looks like watching them try to set things right is going to be a blast!
I think it’s safe to say at this point that Snyder and Capullo have established themselves as one of the best writer/artist teams in the history of comics. These are two guys operating at the absolute top of their game and it shows in the story. When Greg Capullo’s name is on a comic book, it’s a given that the art inside will be fantastic, but he really knocked it out of the park on this one. It would be easy to take Capullo’s incredible art for granted, because his work has produced so many phenomenal stories over the years. In Dark Nights: Death Metal, literally everything on each page is something totally new, even all of the classic DC heroes in this story are sporting completely new looks. There are so few artists that could pull off a story like this, with the level of excellence that Capullo delivers. Then there’s the coloring by FCO Plascencia (another long time collaborator of Snyder and Capullo’s) which is gorgeous in this issue. The way the bright, vivid colors of Wonder Woman contrast with the dark, more muted tones of the desolate wasteland that surrounds her, is beautiful to behold.
I’ll definitely say this I loved Dark Nights: Metal and this is a much better first issue than that story. I’m sure Snyder and Capullo would be happy to hear, that the comic book is definitely “Metal”. It rocks the fucking doors off, blows out the windows, and leaves you desperately wanting more. I cannot wait for the next issue, because Dark Nights: Death Metal fucking rules! 🤘
Dark Nights: Death Metal #1 – 9/10
Note: DC has put out a prelude storythat takes place right before issue #1 begins. You can read it for free on instagram! It’s pretty cool, so I definitely recommend checking it out. Read for free right here: https://t.co/vIJ8HkiZ23
Check out this art from issue #2 hitting stands in July…
On this episode of “The World’s Best Podcast”, I talk about some interesting fan theories regarding some of our favorite films, as well as some creepy Hollywood urban legends! For those of you who may not understand, when I say interesting Fan Movie Theories, we’re talking about picking up on subtext, hints, and other clues to formulate fun ideas and theories that aren’t necessary explicit and clear when watching a film. Don’t get me wrong, there have been one or two fan movies theories over the years that more or less turned. However, the vast majority of Fan Movie Theories are bullshit, but they sure are fun to discuss!
To name just a few of the movies covered in this episode:
The Dark Knight
The James Bond Franchise
Joker
Serenity
And much more!
Here are the 2 videos I referenced in this episode:
Mr. Sunday Movies
The Film Theorists
Listen here: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/30763281 Or subscribe on Stitcher, Spreaker, iHeartRadio, Deezer, Podchaser, Castbox, Podcast Addict, Google Podcasts, & Apple Podcasts/ITunes…
Thanks for listening! Follow me on Twitter @PJWrightWBM or type Worlds Best Media into the search bar, you can also like and follow us on our Facebook page; World’s Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews, go a long way to supporting World’s Best Media. We really appreciate the loyalty and support shown to us by our fans, so thanks again! Stay healthy and stay safe!
It’s been a big week for Sony and their PlayStation 5 Game Console. First, up was the teaser trailer for what appears to be the sequel to PS4’s Spider-Man game. Which seems to be shifting its focus away from Peter Parker, to a story will revolve around Miles Morales, with the game new game titled Spider-Man: Miles Morales debuting on Sony’s upcoming PS5. Check out the trailer here:
It goes to show you how far gaming technology has come, that when my mother saw the picture posted below, she thought it was a real person. The graphics are incredible!
Then, after that pretty damn cool news, PlayStation dropped a bomb. After all the speculation, excitement, and rumors, Sony has finally revealed our first look at the PS5 console! Unfortunately, the two most important questions about the new console haven’t been answered yet: When is it coming out? And What will it cost? I have a feeling we will get an answer to both of those questions relatively soon, considering that Sony chose to unveil their console to the world. I’d expect a Holiday 2020 release date because that’s what Sony has indicated in the past and that’s the release date given in the announcement trailer for Spider-Man: Miles Morales for PS5. However, the really interesting PS5 news is, that for the very first time, customers will have the option to purchase PS5 and its games completely digitally. Of course, this will not affect customer’s ability to purchase a physical copy. It’s just another option given to consumers when purchasing the system. It will probably come down to whatever work for each individual. Take a look at the video from Sony unveiling the new system:
It’s not 100% clear how this will work and what the advantages and disadvantage iwill be when it comes to choosing the physical console or the digital one. A major video game company has never done anything quite like this, so it’s a pretty big deal. It shows that the world is moving l more and more away from physical copies of media and even more into the world of digital.
Finally, this week sees the debut of The Last Of Us: Part II on PS4. The sequel to 2013’s The Last Of Us, which was a post-apocalyptic masterpiece. The first game was a beautiful piece of storytelling and character drama, that transcended both the genre and the medium.
2013’s The Last Of Us was a truly mind blowing experience and it looks like Naughty Dog, the company that produced both games, stepped up to the challenge of creating a worthy the sequel. The game is available everywhere on 6/19/20. You can check out IGN.com’s review of The Last Of Us: Part II right here:
Let us know what you think of the PS5 announcement, Miles Morales: Spider-Man, and The Last Of Us: Part II in the comments below!
Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @PJWrightWBM or type Worlds Best Media into the search bar, you can also like and follow us on our Facebook page; World’s Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews, go a long way to supporting World’s Best Media. We really appreciate the loyalty and support shown to us by our fans, so thanks again! Stay healthy and stay safe!
I haven’t read any of the Artemis Fowl books, so I’ll only be talking about the film, and I don’t know how it compares.
Artemis Fowl is a children’s film, in the vein of a Harry Potter, with a very special child protagonist. In this case, Artemis doesn’t have magic, or special powers, but he is a genius, according to him he’s a genius on the level of Albert Einstein. Which brings us to Artemis’s second character trait that we learn, Artemis is a little shit.
In the first minute or two of this film we learn those two things about him, and the rest of the film serves to really add depth to those two characteristics. His genius is bolstered and reiterated, but lack of experience, and fear really show us is humanity, which begins to undercut the ‘little shit’ aspect of his personality. The truth is, just like most cockiness (as opposed to confidence) Artemis is masking his true feelings with an act of superiority.
For a kid who is supposed to be one part criminal mastermind, one part James Bond, he can be forgiven for being a ‘little shit.’
As the film begins, and we learn about the character of Artemis, we also learn about the world of magic and fairies, and the fact that Irish folk lore is mostly true, or at least rooted in truth. Fairies, dwarves, trolls, and centaurs all live deep under the Earth’s surface hidden from humanity to keep the peace. As we see the fairy society, we get to see that they have magic, but that they’re also deeply technological, advanced beyond the humans on the surface.
We’re introduced to Mulch Diggums, played by Josh Gad, who is telling the story of the film to a faceless MI6 agent (I think it’s director Kenneth Branagh’s voice) through a camera in a black ops site. Mulch is a giant dwarf, and the source of most of the humor in the film. If you’re not a Josh Gad fan, this part might be a bit too much like Olaf for you, where he doesn’t 100% fit the rest of the tone of the film, but I really liked the lightness he brought.
Look kids it’s terrifying Olaf!
The thing that I think really stands out about this film, is that it’s fairly different than anything I’ve seen before. The combination of magic and technology mixes in a way that I’m not sure has been done before, and the visual style is very cool. There were some effects and concepts that I would say were Wachowskian in their originality and style, like a sequence in which a ‘time freeze barrier’ stops working, and we see many of the fairies (the L.E.P. Recon squad) getting tossed and turned through the barrier.
I think overall, this is a really fun film, and would strongly recommend it. I have deliberately not gone into too many spoilers, because I really think this film deserves to just kind of take you in one minute at a time. It’s wonderfully paced, not too scary for kids, but enough adventure for adults.
Overall rating: A- (Would have been a solid A if it weren’t for one really cheesy line by Judy Dench, and I think you’ll know what I mean when it happens.)
*Editor’s Note: Paul is on vacation this week, and fairly disconnected from the world, so hopefully this quench your thirst for World’s Best Articles.
I’m about a month late on this, but largely because I don’t know how many people who weren’t looking for this news would have found it, so my hope is that it’s still fresh or brand new to many of you.
I’m a big Percy Jackson fan, I read the entire “Percy Jackson and The Olympians” series after seeing the first movie. Then I saw the second movie, and I was fuming. Imagine if Voldemort had returned and had his big showdown with Harry in the third book instead of the seventh, basically that was how the second movie was. Fans of the movies, between the undercutting that the second film did and no rumors of a third movie, thought the series was done on film. It sucked, because some of the best stuff was yet to come, and it never came.
Uh Oh Annabeth, I don’t think we’re getting a third film!
Well, as I’ve said on here a few times before, I have a four-year-old, and so I’m always looking for new entertainment, and when the first movie, “Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief” was added to Disney +, I decided to show it to him. It was a little more intense than I remembered, but my son can handle it. After watching it he was obsessed, and asked me all about it, I could remember some of the details on my own, and some I had to look up, and when I looked it up, I found out that Rick Riordan (the author of the books) had announced that they were going to be making a Disney + show, and expressed his own disappointment with the films. He basically said that he hadn’t seen the films but had read the scripts and described the process as seeing his life’s work “put through a meat grinder.”
It sounds like Rick Riordan will have a considerable amount of control in the show, I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Rick being the creator of the books implies that there will be a certain level of faithfulness to the books that the films lacked, and I think they do need to follow the structure closer in order to allow the full story to play out properly. My worry, is over faithfulness. Let’s use the Star Wars Prequel trilogy as an example. George Lucas had full control, and that meant that clunky dialogue and bad acting went unchecked, a trilogy that I would argue with better dialogue and acting may have been the best in the series, was somewhat squandered. In addition to the prequels, in between Episodes I and II, we started into the Harry Potter film adaptations, and while I really like the Harry Potter films, they did one thing for the film industry that I’m not sure was a good thing; they made fans want as faithful and literal of a film translation as possible to source material. There was no more ‘spirit’ of the concept in adaptations, and if you got the wrong color cat for a scene, fans would go nuts (looking at you Hunger Games fans).
“…it’s my life’s work going through a meat grinder…”
With something that as specific of a story as the Percy Jackson series has, I want faithfulness in structure, and spirit, but I don’t want them to try to recreate dialogue from the book verbatim, unless it works, or is important (i.e. prophecies and things like that). I hope Riordan realizes that a show isn’t a book, and is able to adapt for that audience. I don’t know if he can or cannot, because his only IMDb credits are Percy Jackson related, and he had minimal control on the films. He could be great, and he could be awful.
Personally, I’m excited that there will be a new Percy Jackson series, and if it’s good, I hope they go through the sequel series “Heroes of Olympus,” which follows some of the characters in the Percy Jackson series, along with some Roman demigods. That’s kind of the cool thing about this series, if it’s adapted well, there are a ton of possibilities to keep going, or for spin-offs.
In the mean time, if you’re not familiar with the series, you have at least a year to read the first book before the show starts in 2021, and I would highly recommend the book series.
We’ve had a lot of great content on the site lately, so I wasn’t in a rush to post individual pages for the last couple of episodes of The World’s Best Podcast. Regardless, I still wanted to make sure I posted something about the latest episodes of the show. The first episode is my review of the DC Animated Movie, Justice League Dark: Apokolips War. The 2nd and latest podcast is my review for the great new DC live-action superhero series, Stargirl. We have the links for both podcasts posted below. I like to go out of my way to create a webpage for each of the episodes of The World’s Best Podcast, so I can add some cool new content, some additional insight into the episode, or bonus material. I have trailers for Justice League Dark: Apokolips War and DC’s Stargirl posted below, along with some interesting stills, photos, and concept images to give you a closer look at the projects I’m reviewing in these 2 episodes. You can check out that content right here.
First up, Justice League Dark: Apokolips War…
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War! Superman and the Justice League decide to take the fight to Darkseid and lose… badly. 2 years later, with many of the heroes dead and Earth decimated by Darkseid’s forces, a desperate and de-powered Clark Kent turns to John Constantine for help with a suicidal plan to end the threat of Darkseid once and for all.
Listen here: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/28915924 Or subscribe on Stitcher, Spreaker, iHeartRadio, Deezer, Podchaser, Castbox, Podcast Addict, Google Podcasts, & Apple Podcasts/ITunes…
Next, our latest episode reviewing the new series, DC’s Stargirl!
The new series based on the DC Comics hero, Stargirl created by Geoff Johns, will be airing on The CW and the DC UNIVERSE Streaming Service. The new show stars Brec Bassinger and Luke Wilson, the series also heavily features the heroes and villains from the classic DC comic book, JSA. Over the course of the first season, High School student Courtney Whitmore takes up the mantle of superhero, Stargirl with the help of her stepfather Pat (Luke Wilson), formally an unofficial member of the JSA who wears a giant robot super suit that he built, called S.T.R.I.P.E.
Together they’ll form a new generation of The JSA since the original JSA were killed by The Injustice Society. The society includes villains like Icicle, Solomon Grundy, Sportsmaster, Tigress, Brainwave, and The Dragon King.
Listen here: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/29775621 Or subscribe on Stitcher, Spreaker, iHeartRadio, Deezer, Podchaser, Castbox, Podcast Addict, Google Podcasts, & Apple Podcasts/ITunes…
Villain Icicle, Series Hero & Main Character Courtney Whitmore AKA Stargirl, New Hero Hourman
Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @PJWrightWBM or type Worlds Best Media into the search bar, you can also like and follow us on our Facebook page; World’s Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews, go a long way to supporting World’s Best Media. We really appreciate the loyalty and support shown to us by our fans, so thanks again! Stay healthy and stay safe!
When I originally saw the trailer for “Upload,” I thought it looked like a “Good Place” knock off, and I wasn’t terribly interested. Eventually, between having exhausted so many shows in lock-down and my wife saying that she heard it was good, we decided to watch it. “Upload,” is a show about a 2033 world in which several companies have their own VR ‘heavens’ in which people can upload their consciousness into immediately before their death. Unlike what many expect Heaven to be like, these virtual ‘heavens’ are very capitalist, and therefore just like on Earth, those with means live better than those without.
One of the things that the show does really well, is balance tones. The show is part sit-com, part murder mystery, there are silly and whimsical moments, deep emotional moments, and a few gross-out moments, and they’re all weaved pretty together pretty well.
An aspect which I think makes the show unique is how the technology in this series operates. So, we follow the main character, Nathan Brown, as he is introduced to a swankier ‘heaven.’ Nathan has left behind his mother, niece, and girlfriend, all of whom can put on virtual reality suits and visit him. This alone is a cool concept, but one of the big events in the show is Nathan’s funeral, which he is able to attend with the help of a large wall wide screen, and the mourners can come up and talk to him as if they are in the same room together, minus the physical ability to hug or anything. Through out the show, he able to Skype or FaceTime call people in the real world just as he would have pre-death.
As the show progresses, the technology is used as a way to reemphasize the idea of wealth inequality. At one point, trying to think about what he can actually afford, Nathan goes with his mother (in a portable hard drive) to a ‘travel agent’ to tour more affordable ‘heavens.’ At the ‘travel agent’s’ office, we see the difference in connectivity with the real world, when Nathan’s head appears in an oversized lightbulb to discuss the possibilities.
‘Upload’ also shows us how this technology affects newer relationships. Nathan and his girlfriend, Ingrid, have not been dating very long when he is uploaded, and their relationship had very much been based in sex prior to his death, and while sex is still an option, it does force their relationship to deal with more emotional and intellectual compatibility. Nathan also develops a friendship/crush on his customer service representative (they’re called ‘angels’ within the company), Nora. This relationship, while they’re both physically attracted to each other, is based significantly more on intellectual and emotional compatibility.
There is a lot going on in the show, and I want to leave you without any significant spoilers, and I think much of this what I’ve gone over you could get from the trailer. The show very quickly introduces a mystery to propel you forward through the season, as well as figuring out all of the logistics of the character drama. I think it was really well done, and would recommend the show.
For several years now, I’ve been of the opinion that television is the dominant storytelling medium of the 21st century. When I say dominant I mean, television has been consistently turning out storytelling, acting, and action set pieces that we normally only expect from big budget Hollywood films. Personally I think the real game changer was Game of Thrones.
Love or hate how it ended, up until Game of Thrones, in theory there’s nothing stopping a television show from having an actor give a riveting and compelling performance that rivals the years Oscar nominees. Where television couldn’t measure up, was its ability to deliver visual effects heavy, action set pieces. Game of Thrones was the first television show to deliver action sequences that were as good or better than anything on the big screen that year. The Siege of Castle Black, The Massacre at Hardholme, The Battle of The Bastards, were among some of the best battle sequences in any medium and rivaled what we’ve come to expect from our summer blockbusters. The VFX quality that went into making Dany’s dragons look damn near photo real was astonishing. In fact I’ll go so far as to even say that I think Daenerys dragons were the most realistic looking dragons ever put on film. They look like real living breathing creatures.
Game of Thrones was only the beginning. My favorite kind of storytelling: fantasy, science fiction, superhero stories, all require complex VFX, stunt work, and make up effects, among other things to make them work. Fortunately as Television has progressed as a medium, Visual Effects have become advanced enough and cost effective enough, for even a network like The CW can have one of their hit superhero shows feature a spectacular fight scene between The Flash and Gorilla Grodd. Now we get to see armies of creatures out of fantasy clash in battle, we can marvel at our favorite superheroes saving the day in daring fashion, and watch some of the coolest fight choreography this side of John Wick, all without setting foot in a movie theatre.
Especially with movie theaters currently closed, we all appreciate now more than ever that some of the most memorable characters, some of the greatest drama and storytelling, as well as incredible VFX are available to us every day on streaming and TV. Which is why I loved it when one of my favorite YouTube channels, Watchmojo, put together this list of the Top 20 TV Show Opening Scenes. As I thought back to some of my all time favorite, opening scenes to a TV series, it was fun to think of all the shows that came to mind for me and compare them to the 20 picks and honorable mentions in this video. Like I said, I had a some fun with it, so will I thought I’d share it with all of you! Give it a watch right here:
I’d love to know what some of your favorite TV show openings are! Hell, it doesn’t have to be just TV, what are some of your favorite movie openings scenes? Let me know in the comments below!
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